Do I need Memory Upgrade?

I have Toshiba Satellite M70 with 1.73 P-M. It has 40 GB SATA drive and 512 MB ram.
All I do is surfing and working with Office( Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc). No games/ movies/ or photos. I am using XP Home SP2.
I have installed memory widget from Yahoo and the memory used mostly is between 50-85 %( varying according to my Notebook use). I want to ask should I upgrade my memory to 1 or 1.5GB? Will it give me any advantage as far as speed is concerned. I do feel some times my system a bit slow( it happens when after a boot first time I open any programmes/ folders like browser, Word, or MS OneNote, My Computer etc-- next time I open the same folder/ programme, it is faster). I want everything to open really fast.
Thanks for any help.

 

How many other processes are running in the background?

How much of the hardrive is free?

If you have a lot of programs running in the background, additional memory will help. If your hardrive is getting full, your performance will be slower; especially if the information is fragmented. You may also want to DEFRAG the HD in that case.

Lastly,Sweep for viruses and spyware.

 

512mb would be sufficient for what you currently use...but 1gb wont hurt as you probably will only upgrade once

edit: well because if u upgraded to 1gb and if plan to upgrade again youd have to throw 1x512mb away....

 

Thanks, I have about 9 GB free. System is clean. Not a lot of programmes running in background except I do open lot of tabs in firefox and opera and keep them open while hybernating etc to read later.

 

Aigle...let this computer go obsolete before you think about upgrading anything in it. Chances are you will get a new laptop in a couple years or when your needs drastically change. 512 is perfectly fine for your needs and 1 gig is just way too much. Save that extra 120 bucks and start saving for a new laptop. J

 

Well, memory is pretty cheap. If you are sitting at 50-85% regularly, maybe you should upgrade to another 512 stick. It's easy, and would probably make a difference...especially if you are seeing a slowdown. The more things you add to startup or background as services, the more bogged down the memory becomes.

If you've got the money, find a good deal on Newegg/Zipzoomfly (can't vouch for zzf though...never tried them) and pick up a stick.

Multitasking takes a toll on memory, and slowdowns are a result. 85% is a lot, and could be the source of the slowdown...ie: more need for the slower pagefile.

 

If you plan to use the machine for a few more years it wouldn't hurt to add another stick of 512mb ram it shouldn't be to expensive and you should see an improvement in performance/stability.

 

It's real simple: if your memory usage is below 100%, the only gain you'll get is the fairly marginal one of potentially going to dual channel memory.

 

Remember, though, it's not about performance for what you are running now...because that likely won't change. The upgrade will effect the next programs you run. Every time you start a program more memory is utilized. Your memory usage may be below 100, but if the next thing you start pushes it over...you'll get a slowdown.